NATO

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Identifying possible areas for improved cooperation between the Joint Warfare Centre and the Rogaland Police District was the key topic for discussion during Major General Jean Fred Berger’s first official meeting with Mr Hans Vik, Rogaland’s Chief of Police, and Mr Egil Eriksen, Chief of Staff of Joint Operational Unit, at the Police headquarters in Lagårdsveien, Stavanger, on 20 September 2011.

Major General Berger was briefed on Rogaland Police District’s tools and services, including its organization and tasks, emergency preparedness, support and supervisory duties, special units, international police cooperation with organizations such as Interpol and Europol, its budget, as well as crime trends particular to the Rogaland District and the law enforcement tasks.

“Rogaland Police District is one of the 27 regional police districts in Norway, responsible for 19 municipalities and approximately 800,000 citizens, including the fourth (Stavanger) and ninth (Sandnes) largest municipalities in the country. There are more than 100 different nationalities living in the Rogaland District, which is also a national centre for petroleum activities. So, with our 700 employees, we are responsible for delivering safety and security to one of the largest districts in the country,” said Mr Vik at the beginning of his briefing.

Major General Berger pointed out that the meeting was an opportunity for both the Joint Warfare Centre and the Rogaland Police District to explore ways of strengthening the existing relationship and identifying areas for further development together. Major General Berger proposed three areas of cooperation in the immediate future, which are agreed with great interest by both senior police officers.

The first proposed area of cooperation was to continue comprehensive policing plans and early communication regarding events such as high profile VIP visits to the Joint Warfare Centre to meet the safety, security and traffic requirements associated with them.

20SEP POLICEHQ 2011 COMSecond, Major General Berger proposed an expansion of Rogaland Police District’s current training support to the JWC-run training events. The General said: “Your participation to our Iraqi Key Leader Training (IKLT) has been invaluable. You have provided guidance on security infrastructure and public order policing and helped improve understanding of law enforcement to our key Iraqi security audiences. Since our first training event, you have also cordially given the IKLT participants the opportunity to visit your headquarters and provided briefings and lectures on current security/societal issues. I believe that expanding this exchange of police experience and knowledge in our other training events would be invaluable, especially during our ISAF Training Events where we have participation from the Afghan National Police. Every society needs the police and both the effort and the challenges are common: to prevent and fight crime while working under a great deal of pressure. I believe significant results can be achieved with your consistent participation to our ISAF Training Events and face-to-face meetings with your Afghan counterparts. I see this area of cooperation of high interest to both sides as well as to the overall success of JWC’s training,” Major General Berger said.

The last proposed area of cooperation was related to initiating a police briefing to be given by a local police prosecutor about laws and policy in Norway that the JWC’s newcomers should implement during their assignment. It was suggested that an initial briefing be scheduled for August 2012. Mr Hans Vik welcomed and accepted the suggestion.

Both Major General Jean Fred Berger and Mr Hans Vik agreed to follow up on these proposed areas of cooperation and seek opportunities to further develop them, maximise information exchange between the two organizations as strong partners in Stavanger, and continue to seek ways to assist each other.

The visit is part of JWC’s extended outreach programme that aims to build relationships in the community and to share information about the mission of the Joint Warfare Centre. The programme commenced this year in June with the goodwill visit to the former Honorable Mayor of Stavanger, Mr Leif Johan Sevland, where a decision was made towards the execution of a letter of intent between the Joint Warfare Centre and the City of Stavanger to complement and strengthen the existing friendship and cooperation between the JWC and Norway through a range of new activities and initiatives.